The missing pearl
by Zephiron
Summary: Land, a flygon of the seafield forest, the place that pokemons lived together too peacefully, went on a search for a certain pearl that have a mysterious power that can control water. He'll find out that the world that is much more dangerous than what he thought, and he'll meet lots of friends and some not so good gangs and he might discover something he never knew.
1. Start the search!

**Just in case anyone read this.**

 **I'm going to improve my works here so I'll keep on rewritting this story a couple of times. If I made any mistake just let me know so I can fix them and make the story better.**

 **hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Seafield forest was a place where every pokemon lived together in perfect peace. The forest itself had lots of cave so many pokemons could live here. Every being that lived here also learned to plant stuffs so they'll have food. If anyone wanted to stay here they will have to follow a common rule."Any pokemon that wanted to live here have help others." Because of this rule every pokemon shared their foods and lived together in peace.

The problem is, the forest itself is too peaceful. Pokemons that were born in here never learned to fight. Some of the pokemon that moved in also forgot their moves because they never used them.

Even all pokemon have to make themself 'useful'. They could have their free time as well. But its not like everyone in this forest knew how to spend their free time "peacefully."

* * *

'Thud!' A sound echoed through the forest. A big tree that can be seen from far away slowly collapsed on its side.

A flygon was lying next to the tree clutching his head."Ow..." The flygon moaned rubbing his head.

"You should look ahead before you start increasing your speed" A tranquill said while landing near the flygon. "This is not the first time you crashed into something."

"I know but it feels great to fly fast. It makes you feel like you could get rid of things that are bothering you." The flygon sat up.

The tranquill then looked back at where his friend crashed into. The tree had a big hole to fit an emboar. "Land, the next time you fly, you'll need to pack a lot of healing berries."

Land looked at tranquil for a second. "I don't think I need them Nicky. It's not that hurt."

"Not for you." Nicky pointed out his wing. "For the others you crashed into." He looked down at the collapsed tree. The tree itself was big enough to make a home for a very big pokemon, like an emboar. "I feel sorry for the tree."

"Wait, what about me?" Land stood up.

"You said that it wasn't that hurt a few seconds ago" Nicky countered. "And besides, you flew into it."

"It was an accident."

"Still,you flew right into it."

"Fine..." Land flapped his wings and flew toward the coast of the forest. Nicky sighed softly and flew after him. 'Will he ever think before doing something?' He thought.

* * *

Not long until Land arrived at the coast. He began to look around the the place. The coast itself was a perfect spot for relaxing. The sand was almost white and the sea was clear as crystal. The tourist that came here would say 'Great!' and rate the coast five stars.

"What should I do now?" He asked himself and sat down on the soft-shining-white sand.

"Let me guess, You don't know what to do now." Nicky's voice came from behind. "This is not the first time either."

"Yeah" Land answered slowly. "I always think about finding a place to relax. Well, once I found one and now I don't have anything else to do."

"You could go ask Ursaring for some work." Nicky suggested.

Land thought for second before dipping his face into the sand. "No, I wouldn't want to spend my time on extra work." He murmured." Come to think of it, why do we call that guy 'Urasring'?"

"Like I would know" Nicky shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't like his name, so told others to call him captain urasring"

"Land! Nicky!" The two quickly turned to the owner of the voice. Floating on the saltwater was a lapras.

"Reef?" Nicky said. He found himself surprised to see his friend.

"Hi" Land greeted.

"I really need to use your help." Reef said. "A very bad thing happened."

Land and Nicky looked at each other then faced Reef again. Usually Reef is a cheerful Lapras that always looked on the bright side of things. When he said that a very bad 'thing' happened it would be some thing extremely bad like a thousands meter Tsunami, a pack of rampaging gyarados, the end of the world, or maybe a flying miltank or even worse. Come to think of it, a flying miltank? Maybe not that dangerous as long as you don't stay under them.

"What is it?" Nicky asked. He was expecting something like 'sharpedoes learned to fly'

"Have I ever told you about the pearl of the forest?" Reef asked.

Land put a claw under his chin trying to recall his memory. "No, as long as I could remember , you never said a thing about a pearl."

"It is the sacred pearl of the forest. Legends said that it can control the current of water." Reef explained. "Some pokemon believed that the pearl is the fallen part of arceus's plate."

"Wait." Nicky cut in. "Why would you need a pearl to control water currents? Can't you just let nature do its work?"

"Yes." Reef answered. "But the pearl will become very useful when there is a powerful storm coming. The problem is it was gone. If it's in bad hands, lots of pokemons will get a whole lot of trouble."

"Can't you find a new one?" Land asked. "Maybe there are some pearl that might have the same ability."

Reef looked back in the water. "No." He said in a soft tone. "This pearl was found in this area hundreds, or maybe thousands of years ago and it is the only pearl that can control water." He turned back to his friends and took out a small gem.

"The pearl can't run away by itself so it must be stolen. If the thief can travel on land it will be a hard job for us to find it." Reef said. "I need you guys to help me."

After a few seconds Nicky managed to say something. "When did the pearl got lost?"

"This morning." Reef answered. The gem was still in his mouth.

Land turned to the forest. "If I help I will lost all my free time." He turned back. "But for a friend I will help you without hesitation."

Reef tossed the gem at Land. "Thanks. The gem will help guide you." Reef turned towards the sea. "It will glow when you're close."

"I'll go look around the forest." Nicky said before took off. "It might still be around here."

"Thanks again. Wish you luck." Reef said before disappearing into the crystal clear sea. How is that even possible when the sea is so clear?

"I better get ready" Land quickly flew off to his cave. "...and better find a sign that read occupied."

"Of course you should. Or else someone would put some random electrode under your your bed. Like what happened last year." Reef's voice echoed from the water and some bubbles appeared on the surface. His body was unseen.

* * *

In Land's cave

"And that's the last one." Land said keeping his stuffs to make sure that they won't get lost when he's not home. Suddenly, he felt like something ran past him.

"Huh?" He turned his head to check it out. But there was nothing. "Strange." He then searched around his cave for a while.

"Probably my imagination." He shrugged then placed a sign that read "Do not enter. This place was owned." He looked at his cave/home to make sure that there was nothing there before soaring into the sky.

* * *

"Wooo!" Land yelled as he was flying through the sky at lightning speed. "Where should I start?" He asked himself. He then took out the gem from nowhere . Instead of shining brightly, the gem was very dim. "It shines brightly when I'm close." He thought before flying off to... somewhere that seemed to make the gem glowed brighter.

A few hours later.

Land was flying over a lot of mountains and he decided to count them so he wouldn't get bored. "twenty-seven twenty-eight and..." He trailed of after he saw a mountain that was extra large. It was about fifty meters higher than the others. After a long boring flight he decided to land on it.

Right after he landed, a voice came from a tunnel entrance of the mountain. "You!" The voice echoed.

"Uh...,Me?" Land replied waiting for the owner of the voice to show itself but a Flash cannon came out instead. Land quickly leaped sideways and charged up a Dragon breath. Because Land lived in Seafield forest almost entire of his life, he's not good at battling. His heart pounded faster. He stared at the cave continuously, waiting for something to pop out.

A bronzong floated out from the cave slowly "You invaded my teritory." He said in a calm voice.

"Well..., I don' see.." Land completely forgot about the move in his mouth and his Dragon breath backfired. "..any..cough...sign...cough...telling me ...cough...about your...cough...terri...cough...tory" He managed to say

The bronzong froze there for a while. "In that case, I'll put a sign right after I finish this." The bronzong flipped himself aiming his bottom at Land.

"Uh... what do you mean by...cough...I though that it was over!" Land yelled at the sky like it made him cough or something "Back to the point. What do you mean by- Whoaaa!" Land slided to the right as a Flash cannon ran past him like a train.

"That's the meaning of 'This'." The bronzong said charging a Flash cannon again.

Land braked himself from the slide and try to use bulldoze but realized that it wouldn't hit the bronzong.

"Levitate" the brongzong said calmly. "Still, that's not much of a bulldoze." He fired the Flash cannon. The move struck Land as if it was a herdier using Take down but a lot more powerful. Sending land flying a few feet backwards.

Land sat up slowly. "Oww.." He moaned then charged toward the brongzong his claws shined in cerulean color.

The bronzong's eyes glowed and Land was stuck in midair.

"What's this? I can't move" Land struggled.

"This is psychic." The brongzong said calmly. "Haven't you heard of it?"

Land paused for a moment. "Maybe I do but I don't really care because it's a move I can't use anyway" Land said. Then he fired a dragon breath to the bronzong. The move missed the bronzong completely. He fired it again and again. The bronzong just sighed. At the very moment he sighed the seventh Dragon breath landed on the bronzong causing him to loose control of his psychic. When Land saw this, he quickly charged the bronzong with dragon claw again. He consecutively slashed the bronzong with dragon claw but the brongzong didn't move even a little.

"Did you forget something" The brongzong asked.

"Huh?" Land replied then started to look around. "No, why?"

The brongzong used psychic once again to prevent Land from moving and threw him a few feet backwards. Not long after Land stopped the bronzong charged straight at Land using Heavy slam. 'Bang!' The sound can be heard from hundred miles away. Cause bronzong was a bell after all.

Land was thrown to the ground at high speed. A smack down would have hurt less. He felt like some of his bones are broken. He predict that it was his ribs, and seriously, broken ribs are not fun.

The bronzong levitated over Land. Without saying a word he charged up another Flash cannon.

Land saw this, but he couldn't move his body. The last thing he saw was a white beam coming towards him and everything went black.


	2. Meet Rot

His vision was black. His sense of hearing blurred, but he could hear a faint sound not from far away. He guessed that it was the bronzong he fought earlier. Land could also feel the cool breeze around him.

After a few more minutes of doing nothing Land opened up his eyes slowly. His vision was also blurred at first but started to getting clearer. He checked his surroundings. He was lying in a cave. The rocky ceiling proved that.

"Sure!" He heard someone exclaimed.

Land looked sideways and noticed some healing berries, a hole that led to the sky, and a TV... It may looked pretty strange but it really was a TV, an old fashioned TV. "What happened?" He wondered out loud. He stood up with difficulty. His body ached. "Ow..."

He tried to walk toward the exit silently but somehow a strong wind passed by and caused a small rock on the wall to fall to the ground. Land didn't notice a thing but the other two pokemon heard it perfectly.

"Oh, you're awake." The first figure levitated to Land. It was the bronzing, which easily outmatched him. "You shouldn't walk yet." He said and used psychic to prevent him from moving.

Land didn't say a word. He was thinking of a way to escape but he couldn't do it any way.

"My name is Zeen." The bronzong said. "Yours?"

"Land" He replied not making eye contact. He was too busy staring at the exit that he couldn't go through.

"This is my home." Zeen said while letting go of Land. Land stared at Zeen trying to figure out what Zeen had in mind but that's not a thing you can do easily without mind reading abilities.

"What brings you here?" Zeen asked. "Traveling? Lost? Playing? Or maybe walking a lillipup and accidentally lost it?"

"Traveling." Land replied. "But if I was walking a lillipup how am I going to lost it anyway?"

"You'll accidentally lost it because a thunderbolt struck a nearby tree and caused the poor lillipup to run away in fear and will eventually get lost." At this Land looked at the exit again. The sky showed no signs of a storm, let alone a thunder bolt.. Unless it was used by a pokemon.

"That's not a thing that will happen every day." Land looked back at Zeen as he picked up the oran berries and handed them to Land.

"You'll need this to recover your injuries. By the way, can you tell me why do you travel? The reason that you started this journey?"

"To find an important object that was stolen from my home. Without it the pokemon there won't be able to walk around the coast without fearing about getting struck by a hydro pump of a crazy water type pokemon." Land explained.

"But you're not a water type. Why are you searching for it?"

"I'm not a water type but my friend is."

"That object is very important, isn't it."

"Yes, it is."

"The sacred pearl of Seafield forest. I've heard of it."

"You knew?" Land asked with curiosity. May be Zeen knew about the pearl more than he did.

"Yes, I have heard from many pokemons." Zeen replied. "If you really want to go, I want you to take this little guy with you."

"This little guy?" Land asked then looked past Zeen and saw a Rotom staring at him blankly. "Uhh.., Why?"

"He wants to see the world for a long time but I never allow him to go alone. That is the reason why I fight with every pokemon that travels past this mountain." Zeen said. "I want him to travel with someone strong enough to protect him. Besides, he makes a very good companion."

"I see." Land said "But I don't know what may happen in the future. Maybe something unexpected might happen, like in the next few minutes."

"Don't worry, just take him and leave the rest in his own fate." Zeen said. "I'm sure that he'll be a better companion than what you expected."

"Then..., I'll take him with me." Land said.

"Really?" The rotom joined in the conversation.

"Thank you." Zeen said and began to float deep into the cave until Land can't see him. "My job here is done." His voice echoed.

"Umm... I'm Land and you are?" Land asked.

"I'm Rotom." The rotom answered.

"I know what you are. Seriously, what is you're name?" Land rolled his eyes.

"My name is Rotom." Rotom said.

"I'll just call you Rot." Land said "Can you fly?" He asked.

"I can only levitate." Rot replied. "Does that count? Oh! and find a nice thing for me to get in."

"A nice thing?" Land asked. He wasn't sure about what rotom was referring to.

"Then follow me." The rotom floated out of the exit.

* * *

A few hours later.

"I'm feeling like a rattata or something." Land said while looking for any usable electric appliances. "Why are there so many strange things in here and where does this thing come from?" He asked pulling out a toothbrush.

Rot looked around before he answered. "How am I supposed to know? Hey!, look at this." The rotom said.

Land turned to him and saw the thing that Rot was pointing with his 'Plasma hands thingy' "Huh? What's that?" The flygon asked.

"Some thing very useful!" Rot replied with enthusiasm.

"How will it help?" Land asked. But his question wasn't answered because the rotom went into the microwave.

The color of the microwave changed to orange. A pair of eyes appeared on the top. An evil looking mouth appeared under the eyes. A strange red aura radiated around it. And a pair of hands made from the aura connected on top of it. "Behold!, the almighty microwave is here!" He yelled.

"To be honest, you look stranger than before." Land said.

"Come on! you can't see a talking microwave everyday." Rot said.

"And I just got a friend that is a talking microwave." Land rolled his eyes. "What's a microwave anyway?" He asked. Before he could do anything else, popcorns flew from the microwave door. The stream of popcorns flew at Land like a group of angry beedrill.

'This is not going to end well.' He thought before the popcorns hit him. "Ahhhhhhhh..." He screamed as the stream of burning hot popcorns hit him.

"Ow, that's gonna hurt" Rot said looking away.

* * *

A few minutes later.

Land was soaring through the sky holding the microwave rotom in his claws. They were travelling across a big river.

"You better watch where you are shooting popcorns at." Land said.

"I could use pies instead of popcorns" Rot said. 'Ding!' A sound rang out from Rot and it gained Land's attention. "A tasty pie" Rot said while opening the microwave door and took the pie out with his hands. "What?" He asked annoyingly when Land gave him a look.

"Where did you get that thing?" Land asked curiosly.

"Don't ask me." Rot replied ignoring whatever Land was going to do next.

"Wait.." Land said.

"What?" Rot replied.

"Why am I smelling... smoke?"Land asked in confusion.

"Oh, I totally forgot that I made another pie." He said while open the microwave door. The smoke emerged from him and went upwards.

Land wasn't expecting the smoke so he inhaled a lot of smoke down his lungs. "Just..(cough)...drop...(cough)..it..(cough)...down...(cough)...already." Land said while trying not to get choked by the smoke of the burnt pie.

"Okay" Rot replied while dropping the burnt pie. They watched as it fell into the river.

'Splash' The sound echoed from the water as soon as the pie hit it."WHO WAS THAT!" A sound came out from where the pie fell into and a gyarados's head perked up.

Land's eyes widended and he quickly increased his speed until he got out of there. He could have sworn that he heard something exploded somewhere but he didn't have the courage to look back.

* * *

"That was close" Rot said. He looked he looked back to where Land was sitting.

"You should watch before you drop stuffs." Land said starting to calm down after he escaped from the gyarados.

"Whatever, I'm taking a rest." Rot rolled his eyes and started to sleep.

Land took a deep breath. "No wonder why seen said that he makes a good companion." He muttered. "I hope that the bronzong wasn't laughing at me right now." He then looked at the setting sun before he went to sleep as well.


	3. Land almost turned into a popsicle

**Finally! The third chapter was finished.**

 **Hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

"...Morning already?" Land groaned as the sunlight hit his eyes. He tried to continue his sleep but when he closed his eyes he could still feel the sunlight. "Fine!" He stood up. When he looked around he saw that Rot is nowhere to be seen. "Where did that microwave go?" He asked himself and began to look around. When he started walking he felt something under his foot. "Huh?" He looked around but he saw nothing.

Suddenly a pie flew from a bush behind him which caught him offguard. 'Splash!' The pie hit him right on his face. "Gotcha!" Rot jumped out of a nearby bush.

"Seriously?" He said annoyingly. "A pie?"

"I could use cakes instead of pies!" Rot said happily "I'll make even better pranks next time." He floated around Land.

"Why Zeen didn't tell me about your pranking stuffs?" He asked.

The microwave hopped around before he answered. "If he tells someone about this no one would take me, right?" Land looked at him 'I shouldn't have taken him with me' He thought.

Rot jumped around the area playfully while looking around. "Hey! Are you hungry yet? Do you want any Oran berry pies? Or Sitrus berry pancakes? or mabe..."

"Okay-Okay-Okay that's enough" Land cut his sentence. "I can find my own breakfast. All you need to do is staying here while I..."

'Ding' . "Oh another tasty pie" Rot said cheerfully. "Are you sure you don't want one?" He inhaled the tasty smell of the pie. "It smells good." He said teasingly while giving Land an evil grin.

Land gave rot a glare. "Just stay here while I go finding some berries" He said before he flew up.

Rot looked at where Land is heading to then sighed to himself. "Man!, he's very stupid. I don't need to eat because my original form is a ghost type. Even now I'm a microwave there's no point eating." He sighed again. "Now, what should I do with it..." He asked himself. He looked around for places he could put the pie. "Guess I'll have to try eating this stuff but, how?" He put the pie down and stared at it for a moment. "Um..." He hopped around looking at the ground as he think.

While Rot was thinking, he didn't know that a dark figure is watching him from a bush behind him. It charged towards Rot at a full speed. In a split second that it passed Rot, it disappeared.

Rot didn't notice anything because of the pie. He turned to where the pie was but it was gone. "What?...Well, nevermind" He then sighed again for the third time waiting for Land."I wish he didn't take too long."

* * *

'Damn it!' Land though as he dropped another berry. "Why can't flygons have big hands." He said to himself while looking at his other hand. His hands were small with three small fingers and three small claws on each fingers. That's what every flygon had though.

Land picked up the berry he dropped with his free hand then tossed it into his mouth. 'At least I could find enough berries for breakfast' He thought while sighing. "I wodered what would Rot be doing now. Probably setting up some pranks again."

"Hey you!" A poliwrath shoued from behind.

Land turned back "Huh? Me?"

"Yes you." The poliwrath assured and examed him a little."A flygon? In the middle of a forest?"

Land swallowed a berry down "Yes, I'm a flygon." Land said and throw another berry into his mouth. "My name is Land and you?" He asked in a friendly tone.

"My name? nah. I'm not gonna tell my real name to any random pokemon." The poliwrath crossed it arms. "I'm known as Wrath." The poliwrath said proudly.

Land swallowed another berry down. "Oh, hello then." He picked another berry up again. "Is there anything you want from me?"

The poliwrath's eyes narrowed. "Are you evil?"

Land looked around. "Me? Well, I could say that I'm not." Some how he suddwnly felt uneasy and almost got choked by a berry.

The poliwrath eyes are still narrowed. "Hmm.." Wrath started examing Land again.

"He..he.." Land chuckled nervously. The uneasiness kept on building inside him. 'Did I something bad without knowing it?' He thought.

"Well." The poliwrath said. "If you are not evil you have to do me a favor."

"A..a..favor?" Land asked inconveniently.

The poliwrath nodded. "And the favor is..." He paused a little. "Be my opponent."

Land was surprised by this. How did he got himself into a fight? And how did this 'Wrath, guy thought that he could handle powerful blows? And more than that How could he win? Land looked at Wrath thinking of ways to get out of it. "Why?" He asked. Not knowing what to do next.

The poliwrath remained still as if he was a statue. "I have to get strong so I can protect others when I needed." He replied.

Land still can't find a way to escape the situation. He knew that a pokemon with strong willed like that won't change his mind easily. "Sure" He sighed. "But please don't kill me okay?"

Wrath nodded again. He sprung himself backward to keep distace before he starts. "Come at me when you're ready" He told Land with confident.

"Seriously?" Land asked. The figher stood still again. "I guess that's a yes then." Land sat up then he extended his wings. He stood there for a while. "Here I come!" He shouted charging a Dragon claw while flying straight at Wrath.

Wrath still didn't move though. He waited until Land flew next to him and swing his Dragon claw. He dodged it easily then countered with an ice puch.

The move successfully landed on its target sending Land flying back to where he started. "Ow.." He rubbed his side that was hit by the move. 'He didn't attack with his full strength' He thought. Land stood up again. He fired a dragon breath straight at the poliwrath.

The purple beam ran straight to its target. Wrath who was still there charged up an ice punch again then swung his fist at the beam. The beam exploded creating a purple-blue smoke infront if him.

Land took this as his opportunity. He quickly flew after the trail the beam left charging a Dragon claw again. He flew toward the purple dust and swung his claw at Wrath

The poliwrath was surprised by this he tried to counter by using another ice punch but it was too slow.

Land's claw hit Wrath with all Land's strength then he flapped his wings hard sending a small amount of sand at him. This made the ice punch missed. Land struct the poliwrah with Dragon claw again then he flew up to get some distace. He charged up a dragon breath again, aiming at Wrath.

Wrath regain his balance again. He saw Land high up in the sky charging a dragon breath. He predicted that Land will use the same strategy so he charged up an ice punch again and pretended to wait.

Land who didn't seems to notice anything followed his old strategy. He fired a dragon breath again and the poliwrath countered with an ice punch again. He flew straight into the dust ready to swung his claws.

The poliwrath who knew this used a hydro pump straight at where Land would be. Luckily the move landed perfectly sending Land flying backward. Wrath still hadn't finished. He jumped up and smashed Land down to the ground with another ice punch.

Land fell to the ground with a thud. "Ow..." He moaned trying to get back up but his body can't move. He looked at his legs and wings. He knew what happened. He found some part of himself frozen solid. He let his head fell to the ground. "Guess this is I what I got from messing with pokemons that learned ice type moves." He murmured.

Wrath walked towards Land slowly. He looked down at him. He laughed a bit then sat down next to Land's half frozen body. "I haven't fought like this for awhile." He gave Land a grin...Sorta "You are a worthy opponent." He stood up again. He raised his fist then smashed at the frozen part of Land's body. The impact caused the ice to shattered into pieces but in left Land's body unharmed.

Land was surprised by this. After the poliwrath finished he tried to sat up again. He looked at Wrath with a confused face.

Thepoliwrath gave a soft chuckle "Don't worry I won't kill anyone without purpose. By the way my name is Wade.

Land blinked his eyes in surprise. "I thought you said that you won't tell your name."

" I did say that I won't tell my name to any random pokemon, but you are worthy enough to know it." He crossed his arms. "It seems like you need to learn more about fighting."

"I guess." Land said. "But I don't need to fight. I'm only travelling around to find a pearl."

Wade looked around like he was searching for something "What if you find someone willing to fight you and that pokemon will not stop until you're dead?" He said still looking around.

"Uhh.."

"That explains it." He turned back to face Land.

Land felt the uneasiness again. 'Why this guy has such an intimidating eyes.' He though. "Explain what?" He backed away.

Wade started to walk away. "Tomorrow morning I'll be waiting here. Don't try to escape because it won't work."

"..." Land didn't said anything but stared. When Wade was gone he facepalmed. 'What have I gotten my self into' He hough. He then pulled the gem out of nowhere behind him. "Guess it will take more time than I expected." He stood up and extended his wings. He looked around in case he forgot something. Then he soared into the sky.

* * *

Rot was floating around the area he was. He turned back to the microwave then he gave a sigh. "He said that he was going to find breakfast, but he was gone for hours now." He kept on on floating around in circle. "If he comes back I will give him a big surprise."

* * *

Land flew around the forest searching for one thing. Rot."Hmmm..." He looked around "Wow, first I got myself into a fight against some weird poliwrath. Second, I have to go back to where I almost got myself turned into a popsicle. And third, I don't even know where Rot is. This must be my lucky day." He murmured.

He looked around until he saw something unusual, something orange. With out hestiation he dived down toward the 'thing'"

When he came downn to the ground that 'unusual orange thing' greeted him with a grin.

"I think you should look at the ground before you land." Rot said smiling.

"Huh?" Land looked down and saw another unusual thing. He was standing on a circle that was made by vines tied up togethet. "What? You mean this?" He bent down to grab the vine. Suddenly the vine wraped around his leg and pull him around into a bush then some kind of explosion burst from bush. Then the vine pulled Land to a nearby tree. **'Bam'** A couple of leaves fell down from the tree.

Rot floated up closer to Land with a bigger grin. "How was the ride?" He asked before he burst into laughter.

Land who was hanging upside down gave an annoyed look. "I shouldn't worry about you in the first place."

"Sure you shouldn't" Rot replied.

Suddenly the vine pulled Land high up on the tree. Land gulped as he saw a hive of combees and Rot's grin.

Rot levitated closer to Land. "After I finished torturing you we'll have to talk about my name, OK?"

"Wha-" The vine pulled Land straight into the combees surprising them for a second then starting to chase Land. "Ahhh"

Rot stared at what he had done. His face didn't showed any grin. "Maybe that was a little too far."


	4. Aiming is hard

Land and Rot was walking for a few hours heading for the place that Land met Wade.

Rot though that walking trough the forest is a better idea. He could make more pies from the berries they collected along the way and of course, the pies were born to fly in to someone's face. "Who is Wade anyway? You didn't mentioned him when we first met, so I guess that he must be a new friend isn't he?." Rot asked as he collected another berry. Somehow he managed to store then inside himself.

Land let out a sigh. "This Wade guy is a poliwrath. He asked me to fight him then, I lost then, he told me to meet him today in the morning where I fought him and almost get myself turned into a popsicle." Land out another sigh.

Rot stared at Land for a while. "Wow, how many times have you fight? Seriously you lost to a fight two times in two days."

Land though for a second then kept walking. "And what should I do about it?" He asked.

Rot hopped infront of Land and collected another berry. "Do whatever you should. First, go to where you met this Wade guy."

Land let out another sigh. "Guess you're right." He walked a little faster to catch up with Rot. "Rot?'

"Yeah?" Rot replied.

"What is the real reason for following me?" Land asked.

"Explore the world. Why'd you ask?" Rot asked back. Even he wanted to explore the world, there's other reason that he came with Land.

"Just curious." Land replied and kept walking. They walked a few more minutes until they found a clearing. "This is the place."

Rot stared at the place for a while. "Hmmmm" He hopped around to examine the place. "What do we do now?"

Land shrugged. "probably, sit here and wait." Land walked to the spot where he ate his berries yesterday and sat down thinking about what he should do. Back at Seafield forest he spent his life without thinking about what should he do or shouldn't do. Mostly he would ended up crashing into something. He looked up and saw Rot still hopping around. "Have you ever fought before?"

Rot turned back to Land and hopped a few step closer. "Me? Umm... sure! I used to fight a lot in old days."

That sentence caught him off guard. Seriously? This guy? Fought a lot? " How many times?" Land asked. He couldn't belive if someone like Rot could learn to fight. Rot was a pokemon that didn't look so strong at all.

Rot stared at the ground as he tried to recall his memories. "Umm... around 157 times or 200."

Land stared at Rot in disbelief. "You must be joking."

"No."

"Seriously?"

"Yes"

"157 times?"

"Sort of"

Land couldn't help but stared at Rot. How could this guy passed that many battles? Land looked down at his claws. 157 is a big number. Land couldn't imagine Rot fighting. How could this guy fight? Despite the fact that he could shoot a wave of burning popcorns in his microwave form, he couldn't be that strong can he? Only one way to find out. "How do you fight exactly?"

Rot looked back at Land. "You wanna know?"

"Yeah" Land answered. Then suddenly facepalmed himself. He shouldn't have said that.

Rot hopped to the other side of the clearing and exited from the microwave. "Then brace yourself" He shot forward. floating at blinding speed Charging a Shadow ball.

Land rose quickly and activated his Dragon claws. He waited for Rot to get closer so he could hit him.

Unfortunately when Rot got closer his speed increased causing Land to missed his target. When Rot saw this he quickly shot out his Shadow ball and continue with Thunder wave.

The Shadow ball struck Land right on his back but Thunder wave didn't do anything at all. Before He could make a move Rot shot another shadow ball then another then another. Rot kept on continuing the process a few more times aiming at Land's back. After five more shadow balls Rot stopped and looked at Land questioningly. "Are you dead yet?"

Smoke appeared on Land's back like he was burned. He tried to use dragon breath but quickly put the idea aside after hearing Rot's question. "I'm fine, don't worry. I just got hit in the same spot on the back with seven shadow balls that's all."

Rot raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then how about.. Ten more!" In a flash, ten shadow balls hit Land from ten directions. Rot was surprised to see that hadn't fainted yet. He thought about stopping but quickly ignored them. He hadn't felt like beating someone for a long time so beating up Land would entertain him a little.

Land gazed up as he heard a charging sound. His eyes widened after he saw Rot charging another shadow ball. He tried to dodge it but his body failed him. He couldn't even stand. He close his eyes and brace him self.

Rot shot the shadow ball but not at Land. The ball flew high up in the sky until it can nowhere be seen."Are you dead yet?" He asked.

Land did not reply.

A few seconds later the big shadow ball fell straight down like a meteor. Land's eyes widened but he can no longer escape. Just before it hit him the ball faded like nothing had happened.

Rot came a little closer his face looked serious. "To be honest. Beating you up is pretty fun, but if you are stronger it would be a lot more fun!" He tossed Land a dozen of Sitrus berry from, who knows where? "Now" Rot said after he re-entered the microwave."About my name."

Land sat up after eating a few Sitrus berries. "Yeah?"

"Last night, I've been thinking about names I could use and it seems like I got a lot of them!" Rot said happily.

Land picked up another berry. "And what are they?" He tossed the berry in his mouth and swallowed it instantly.

Rot could swore tha he saw the berry ran down Land's neck but he decided not to say anything about it. "Then let's get started. The first one is based on my species. Because I'm known as 'rotom' my name would be like 'Rotomius' or 'Riotominus'."

Land stared at Rot woth his mouth hung open. He still had a Sitrus berry between his claws. "That's.. " Land tried to make a sentence. For him neither Rotomius or Riotominus sounds good. They almost sounded like some stupid guy in some movie. "They sounded a little too ancient. Any other ideas?"

"Sure. How about Rontonie?"

"That sounded strange. Any other names?"

"Of course I have alot of them! Romius Arulus."

"Where'd you get that name from?"

"Rofromer?"

"Is that even a name?"

"Romicko."

"Why does your name have to started with 'Ro'?"

"No reason."

"..."

"What?"

"Any other names?"

"Sure! Roka!"

"Next."

"Roson!"

"Next."

"..."

"Is that it?"

"Yeah..."

Land tossed another berry down his mouth. "Why don't you think of some normal names?"

The microwave thought for a second before realizing that didn't have any of them in mind. "Uhh.. like what?"

Land put his claws under his chin and chew the berry slowly. "Maybe something like-"

"It has to start with 'Ro'." The microwave cut in.

Land gave Rot a 'Seriously?' look. He picked another berry then tossed it into his mouth. "Okay.. how about Robert?"

"That's.. great!"

Land gave Rot a questioning look."You like it?" Land asked.

"Fine by me."

"How about Roy?"

"Perfect! From now on I will be called Roy. Now let's abadon Robert without a second thought."

Land stared at Roy blankly. He realized that Rot paid him no attention any more so he pick another berry and tossed it in his mouth. "I think that Wade forgot about me already." He said finishing his last berry.

"Of course not!" The said poliwrath jumped out of nowhere, spin in midair, and landed perfectly in front of Land where spotlights and some random stuffs that you'll see on a stage.

Roy looked at wade carefully and did something that looked like tilting his head. "Strange. Where did he get the spotlights from?"

* * *

A few minutes later.

Wade led Land and Roy to the place he called home. The place was a big clearing with lots of stuffs tha belonged to a dojo. Lots of wooden practice dummy that shaped differently. One of them shaped like a machoke and the other was shaped like an aerodactyl. Aside from the practice dummies several big logs hung from the trees. Weapons were perfectly arranged on a wooden wall. All of the weapons were made of wood of course.

Land stared at the place in awe. He had never seen anything like this before. "You made all this?"

Wade turned to face Land. "Yes" He replied. "You're going to be trained here too, and you're little friend may as well." He looked over to Roy.

Roy who was watching a swinging log that was tied between two trees the whole time quickly answered right after Wade mentioned about him. "No, thank you." These things sure looked awesome for him but since he was a part ghost type so he could pass the training easily by floating through them.

Land looked around a little further. "When should we start?"

"Now."

"Now? Like right now?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Wade pointed over to a spot where a lot of practice targets. "Over there." Wade made his way to the spot slowly. "One important thing in battle is aiming and accuracy, because if you don't have them you won't be able to damage your opponent." He picked up a rock and tossed it upward. He waited until the rock was at his eye level and punched it sending it flying to the target and successfully tear its way through the target.

Land stared at the hole in the target. The aiming was perfect. The tiny little rock pierced through the exactly middle of the target. "Wow."

Wade pointed at Land then pointed towards another archery target. "Now, It's your turn."

"But I can't throw a rock like that!" Land said quickly.

Wade crossed his arms. "I didn't said anything about throwing a rock now, did I?"

Land thought about it for a second then gave out a sigh. He walked to the spot behind a line in front of Wade. He looked at his target and charge up a dragon breath. A few seconds later Land fired his move that completely... missed its target. Instead it struck on a tree about ten feet away and a paralyzed pidove fell down.

Wade facepalmed himself and gave a long sigh. 'This is going to be harder that what I've thought.' He said to himself. "Well, you have to try until you finally hit the target. I'm going to find some cheri and oran berries just in case." He said and started to walked towards his 'house'.

Land looked after Wade until he went in his house then he turned to face the target again. Without hestiation he fired another dragon breath which completely missed once again. He shot out another then another then another.

A few hours later.

The target was completely unharmed, Land was breathing heavily, Wade went somewhere, and Roy was out of popcorns.

"This... is...harder... than... it... looks." He said between breaths.

Roy finally lost his patience. he exited the microwave and floaated next to Land. "Really?" He asked.

Land nodded.

Roy charged up a shadow ball and shot it towards the target. The ball flew towards the target and struck it creating a black mark on the upper left side of the target. "It looks like the problems are the distance and the wind." He suggested.

"Yeah. I knew that." Land said and looked at the target about thirty feet away. He charged up another dragon breath and fired it, which also missed the target.

Roy eyed the target carfully then turned back to Land. "If you can keep firing like this, you'll eventually hit the target." He said.

Land sat down and gave a long sigh. "Probably. May be it's too hard for dragon breath."

Roy thought for a while. "I'm pretty sure that you could hit the target at this range." Roy said. "You could shoot trees that were ten feet further from the target."

Land gazed up and saw the trees behind the target. All of them got several black marks. "I'm not good at aiming." He said.

"Really?" Wade said as he appeared out of nowhere. "Then, how did you shot me while you were flying?"

Land put a claw under his chin. He tried to recall the memory of yesterday. "Maybe I was lucky."

"Lucky?" Wade raised his eyebrow. "Many pokemon were bad at aiming, but in a battle, there are two things that make moves hit their target. First is luck, and second, in a battle, sometimes you're instincts will force you to use you're moves at a certain spot."

Land stared at the target. "Instincts?"

Wade shrugged. "It comes and goes before you even know it." He picked up a rock and threw it at the target. "Try hit it by today because if you don't we'll have to find some other ways." He walked back to his 'house'.

Land watched until Wade closed the door (yup, his house has doors) and turned back to the most annoying thing that he ever met. "This is going o be a long day." He sighed and shot another dragon breath that missed completely.

* * *

Many hours later.

The sun went down but the target haven't. Land spent the entire day shooting at the trees and some random wild pokemons, while Roy spent the entire day counting dragon breaths that Land shot and missed.

Roy didn't looked tired or sleepy but he was completely bored. Being a ghost type didn't prevent him from being bored. "You shot like hundred times and grilled the entire place but not the target? Are you serious?"

Land sat down completely ignoring Roy. He gave a large tiring yawn and charged another dragon breath and shot it with no aiming at all. The move flew across the field and finally, the target was struck on its right leaving a black mark on it.

"At last." Roy sighed. "You finally managed to shoot it." He turned to Land and realized that he was already sleeping. His face was right on the ground. "Great, so that's how you use dragon breath, you use it while you're sleeping." Roy looked around and found nothing but complete peacefulness, except for Land's snoring. He went back in the microwave and check his stuffs and take some nap that he didn't really need. "Please, if gods are real, make tomorrow less boring and I'd be much happier."


	5. A wild stalker appeared

Things started off pretty good the next day. Well, only at the start. The next lesson was mostly about 'watch your back' kind of thing. Since the start of the day Land flew over the training field by a swinging log at the size of a car. As time passed, he kept getting better but it didn't help decrease the pain he felt when he got hit by a log or got or getting smack in the head by a big piece of lumber or getting his wings tied and fell into a 5 meter pit.

Usually when Land got too many wounds Wade would give him oran or sitrus berries. Luckily, Wade had tons of these for some reason and they did help Land a lot. Berries didn't heal Land instantly though. They helped subsiding the pain and help wounds to close faster, but not completely.

"How many times do I have going through this?" Land shouted. This is his 20th trial and its not helping him feeling any better. Every time he tried he'll got something from it, usually a bruise or two sometimes a small scar but non of them are good, at least in his opinion they aren't helping.

Wade remained silent as he watched Land running away from a rolling stone. He still remained silent as it flattened Land.

"You sure that he'll make it out alive?" Roy asked. He looked a little worried.

Wade stayed like a statue for a few more seconds. "Not so sure. But I think he can." He tapped his chin (or tried to tapped his chin. Can't blame him for not having it.). "Let's just wait and see a little longer.

When Land got up. He barely had time to breath as a swinging log flew past him like 'whoosh!' and ducked as it returns. He weren't so sure about Wade's training programs, but he couldn't argue with him. He had a very slim chance of not getting ice punched in a face when he tries to ask for a little change in Wade's time schedule. Seriously, that poliwrath listed almost everything to do in every minute.

Another rolling rock came down. Land dodge sideways, almost getting squashed. He won't let any rock run on him like a patch of grass anymore. Another rock came from another direction. He started to wonder. "Where did all these rocks came from?" He was already cornered by rocks. So he couldn't run anywhere. How did Wade managed to get all these rocks in a perfect position like this was a mystery.

A few more meters before the rolling stone reaches Land. He couldn't dodge sideways, because he was trapped in a prison made of big boulders. He couldn't fly, Wade didn't allow him to. The only way out is running forward and get squashed by the incoming bowling rock. No way of escaping. He was completely trapped. "Seriously?" He muttered.

A few more feet now. He couldn't escape, so what else was left to do? Since the time he left Seafield forest he was getting used to running. He couldn't beat anyone on a one-on-one combat. He wouldn't trust his own strength. For years he had stayed in Seafield forest doing his thing each day not knowing about what he might find outside the forest. Who would have known that one day he would leave the forest without thinking about things he might find on the way. Come to think of it, he had never thought about leaving the forest. Yet, here he is. Outside. Without thinking. Maybe he was lucky that he met this seriously strong,intimidating and annoying poliwrath.

Very close now. Land didn't have much choice. He can't escape, but he won't be squashed by another rolling stone. His claws glowed. He waited for the rock to come closer.

A few more inches now. A little bit more. Land wasn't so sure about this. Did he really think that he could stop a rock with dragon claw? There's no turning back now though. He can only depend on his luck now. He stabbed the rock wit his claws. The rock stopped rolling but it still moving. The force of the rock kept pushing him backwards. He flapped his wings to slow himself down but it doesn't to help much. He was pretty sure that he prevented himself from being squashed, but he didn't think that he would be tackled by a rock and got flattened like a slice of ham in a rocky sandwich.

He knew that he couldn't stop this rock. He's not as strong as Wade. He had to think of a way to get to the other side of the rock, but how? He had to find the answer and fast.

A few more inches until he got flattened.

Land is starting to panic. His claws sunk into the rock so he got stuck with it. By preventing the rock from rolling, he felt like his claws were breaking into tiny pieces. Maybe dragon claw was the thing that keep his claws one piece. He tried to think of a way to escape like the thousandth time but almost every way he could think about involve flying. He started to imagine about his life in the next few seconds. After he got 'pancaked' Wade may use his skin as a carpet or some other things as a house decorative object.

By thinking of that made him a little angry. He only got less than ten seconds before he got 'pancaked'. He was panicked. Very seriously panicked. It's not like he could fly. He didn't think that he could blast the rock with dragon breath. Suddenly. an idea struck him. It's not the nicest, but it seems to be the only way he could think of while he is being pushed by a boulder two times his size.

Land tried to send all his power to his claws and somehow he could feel them extending. He know that he wouldn't have enough strength to break this rock, but he might be able to make a hole in it, big enough for himself to fit in and avoid being 'pancake sandwiched'. 'Crack' He heard it from the inside. May be he could do it. May be he would be able to make it in time. Another

'Crack'. Was that sound coming from his claws or the rock? Or was it from his bones? He really wished that it came from the rock.

'Crack' He could feel that the rock wasn't that strong. May be he somehow could tear it into two pieces before its too late.

'Crack' He could see it now. A small crack on the surface of the rock, the glowing cerulean light of his claws. He also knew that he has less than two seconds be for getting 'rock-pancake sandwiched' (I definitely won't be using this pancake sandwich thing again for quite a while.)

Land knew that he could do this. Somehow he felt strong as if someone has granted him power to tear this rock open. He felt like ho could go and challenge Wade to fight him right after he cracked this rock. He felt some thing that he hadn't feel for a long time... He felt confident.

The time seemed to slow around him as he tear the rock open. More cracking sound came from it. He didn't care if the sound came from his bones or from the rock. He kept on opening it as if it was a locked closet door. In a few millisecond. He finally tore the rock open creating a hole a little bigger than himself. He didn't have time to admire his work though. At the time he cracked it open, the rock slammed on another rock behind him and trapped him inside.

"Great. Just great." Land muttered. At least he's fine now. He sat down and leaned on the rock behind him. He looked at his claws. They didn't look much different form before though. In fact, they looked exactly the same. But he knew something was different. He knew that his claws became more sturdy, more powerful. He took a deep breath and focus on his claws. They glowed in the same color as before, the size seems to be a few inches longer. He looked at the rock that trapped him. Slowly, he stood up. Then, he slashed the rock with his claws. They moved through the rocks as if there was nothing there. A few more seconds later the rock crumbled to dust. At that exact moment. He knew that his dragon claw became much sharper.

Land came out from the rolling stone trap. He didn't even looked back. He was sure that he will run at them and start slashing them one by one and yelling "That's what you got from trying to flatten me you stupid rocks!" Still, that was very tempting. He wasn't sure about what to do now. Maybe the training was over now. May be Wade was finding a spot for his brand new one and only flygon skin carpet. He was walking towards the spot where Wade would be waiting. Maybe he could ask him about the next thing he should be doing so he could get ready. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a flying log came from his side and then Bam! every thing went black.

* * *

"And that's how you make a door" Wade had just telling a story about his house when Land woke up. He told Land that he saw everything including the moment that land got hit by a swinging log. "Since you are a flygon, you have to use sand to your advantage. It will be your last lesson from me." Wade stood up. He walked to the stairs that led him to the upper level of the house. (Did I mentioned that his house has two floors?) "Today's training is over, so rest." He walked upstairs and enter his own room.

"So... how's your head?" Roy asked. He was still in his microwave form. His smiley face with zigzag teeth made him looked a bit scary, but his voice made him looked like a young energetic pokemon.

"Well, it hurts and the world is spinning. Despite that, I'm fine." Land answered no trying to sit up. He knew that if he tried to stand he would fall down again. "How long have I been out?" Land asked. He looked at the ceiling, wondering about how did Wade managed to build his house.

"Six hours. At least that's what I think." Roy replied. The berries inside his body was turning darker. "Maybe you should rest like what Wade told you." Roy advised. Somehow his eyes told that he was being serious. 'Ding!' A sound rang from his body. "Right after you eat this nice fried persim berries."

* * *

The night sky was full of stars. The forest was quiet. The only sound that can be heard was the sound of rustling leaves blown by the wind. At time like this the first thing that would come to everyone's mind was sleep, because of the beauty of stars, the light of moon and the cool breeze of the wind.

"So... why are you travelling again?" Roy asked. they were sitting in front of wades home and talk about their destination.

"Searching for a very important pearl that can control water." Land replied. He started to think that he should find a sign that could tell every people who tried to ask him that question.

"how are you going to find this pearl exactly?"

"Well." Land took the water droplet shaped gem from out of nowhere behind him and showed it to Roy. "This thing will help me find it. It will glow when I'm close. Still, it doesn't looks like we're close yet, but I think we should go east. It seems to glow faster when I go east."

"So, in the next two days, we'll be going towards the east, not knowing if its right or wrong." Roy said. he gave Land a disappointed look as if he though that Land already has a plan.

"Yup" Land answered.

"If we go east and it stops glowing brighter? I mean, it will go brighter as we got close right? If east wasn't the direction where the pearl is, when we travel past it, the light will dim down and what will you do?" Roy still stared at Land with a blank expression. Maybe that's the ability if ghost types. Staring at something for eternity without knowing why they did that in the first place.

"Maybe I'll go north. If this gem didn't glow brighter, I'll go south instead." Land replied while looking at the sky through the gem. It reflects the moon into many more moons and made Land confuse when he tried to count them.

"If you found this pearl thing, what will you do next?" Roy asked curiously.

"Return it to my forest. Why?" Land looked back at Roy and realize that he hadn't move even a bit. Land guessed that Roy does that when he's serious.

"Seriously?" Roy asked. His seemed a bit angry for some reason. "You're after a stolen pearl you know! If you're going to get it back, do you really think that they will hand them over easily without a fight? Are you nuts?"

"Well, I haven't thought of that." Land looked back at the gem in his claws. "Guess you're right." He smiled at Roy "Maybe I'm lucky to meet you. Maybe Wade fell sorry for me, so he decided to train me." Land looked back at the night sky. He can't help but staring the moon through the gem. It made him feel like he could understand things when he looked at it from different ways.

All of sudden, he realized that some thing was wrong. "Roy?" He called his friend while looking at the sky. No answer. "Roy?" he tried again. No answer. He also realized that everything was too quiet. No sound of wild pokemons in the woods or the sound of the rustling leaves blown by the wind. The only thing that haven't changed was the coldness of the night. He turned and saw Roy staring at something behind him. Roy's eyes seemed to be widened. Land followed the gaze and saw what Roy had been staring at.

On the other end of the field was a dark fox like figure. It was standing on two legs. Its body was covered in a thick dark grey fur. It also had a large voluminous, red mane with black tips, which resembles a pony tail. Its red claws are long and sharp.

It took a moment before Land realized that this was zoroark, the illusion pokemon.

Land stood up still holding the gem in his right claws. "Who are you?" Land asked.

The zoroark didn't say anything. It just stood there. A few seconds later. It ran straight towards Land. Its claws glowing crimson red. Land dodge to his right while Roy doge to his left. Without hesitation Roy charged up an electro ball and shoot it at the zoroark, but it dodged the attack easily. Land tried to help by using dragon breath but it missed.

The zoroark came at Land again. This time Land was ready. He slashed the zoroark with dragon claw but it ducked and lunged right past Land. A sinister smile appeared on its face as it showed Land its right claws. The gem was now with the zoroark.

Land wasn't sure why the zoroark attacked them, but he was more than sure that if he didn't have the gem he couldn't continue the search. Land flapped his wings sending himself flying towards the zoroark his dragon claw ready.

The zoroark didn't move, until the last second, it sidestepped and raked Land's side with night slash.

Land hit the ground and went rolling on the grass before clutching his side painfully.

The zoroark walked towards Land slowly, and grinning evilly. "You life ends here." It raised its claws and the glowed crimson red. It slashed downwards, aiming at Land's head.

Fortunately, Land was able to roll away from the attack and countered with a close range dragon breath that couldn't possibly miss.

The zoroark was thrown backwards, but it quickly gained its balance and landed on its feet. "I will kill you, in a very painful way." It growled and prepared to lunge at Land when someone grabbed its arm. The zoroark turn and saw the intimidating and angry looking poliwrath.

Without a word, Wade punched the zoroark in the face, sending it flying backwards and landed on its back. He jumped up high and charged up Land's most hated move, ice punch. He brought his punch down like a nuclear bomb. A loud 'bang' echoed through the sleeping forest causing some flying type pokemon to fly away in surprise. Wade looked at the zoroark carefully just in case he might jump up and try to fight him. He was pretty sure that it would be staying here for a while.

This might be the first time that Land liked ice punch.

Wade walked back and picked up the gem that the zoroark had dropped while experiencing flying. "You okay?" He called out to Land who was still shocked from the ice puch bombing scene that he saw. Land had just realized that he haven't yet faced the scariest version of ice punch yet.

"Yeah" He managed to say. His side was stinging with pain. Three red lines ran from his left shoulder (or the spot that should be his shoulder, you get the idea.) to his left leg, blood running out from them. Land glanced at where the zoroark was and was surprised that it wasn't there anymore. "He's gone"

Wade was surprised, but he didn't care much about that zoroark. "Let him go. We have much bigger problem to deal with." He carried Land to his house and told Roy to follow him.

Once they were inside Wade gave the gem back to Land and give him sitrus berries. He bandaged Land's wound with vines and leaves after he washed them with sitrus and oran berries. "This should do it." Wade stood up and walked to the stairs. "Now, tell me , do you know anything about that zoroark?"

"No, not even a little." Land replied. He lied down on his back and stared at the ceiling.

"So, you're being followed by someone you don't know." Wade sat on the stairs. "But, don't worry. You're safe here. Rest. You still have your training to do tomorrow. You'll have to regain your strength as much as possible." He stood up and walked back to his room.

Roy levitated around the house looking at this and that. When he realized that Wade had gone upstairs, he went to grab a sitrus berry and came to where Land was. "How's the wound?"

"I guess its fine now." Land replied not looking away from the ceiling. "It hurts a bit when I move, but it will heal." Land closed his eyes and sighed. "I still wish that it heals before tomorrow morning though."

"May be it will." Rot stared at Land's side it was a mixture of yellow and blue due to the berries color. "Wade had used a lot of healing berries, so it should be fine by tomorrow morning." Roy went back in to the microwave and sleep. Even he didn't really need to sleep. He felt like sleeping. He always sleep. He didn't know why, but he didn't care. As long as he could sleep, he's happy.

Land though about the events that happened today. Getting flattened by rolling stones, Using dragon claw to break rocks, fighting some evil zoroark. He realized that the outside was much more dangerous than he imagined. In Seafield, everyone lived in peace. In the wild, you have to fight for your life or else, you'll die painfully without knowing the reason that some random pokemon attacked you in the first place.

Life is harsh. Land realized that now. If he hadn't met Zeen, Roy or Wade, He would have been dead by now. He had zero surviving skills. At least he won't have to worry about dying for one day. That made him feel pretty good. 'You have to use sand to your advantage.' Wade had said. What ever he meant by that he had a feeling like he need to understand that. He knew that thinking about it wouldn't help, so he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	6. Don't talk about da fourth wall

"Try using sandstorm again" Wade ordered. He was sanding at the far end of the field. His arms crossed, like usual. He was watching Land whipping up a sand storm with his wings. He kept on watching the movement of the sand in the air. How fast, how long can Land hold up a sandstorm. "Hold it longer for a minute."

"Easier said than done!" Land yelled in his sandstorm. He kept on using only sandstorm since the start of the day. Every time he used it he have to make it last longer than the last time he did. His wings buzzed so rapid, it almost turned invisible in the sandstorm.

A few seconds later. A shadow ball flew through Land's sandstorm, going straight towards him. Land dodge sideways. He knew that Roy couldn't see him when he's this high up. Also, his sandstorm was a great cover too. All he had to do is to keep dodging shadow balls until Roy gets tired or when Wade wanted him to stop.

Another shadow ball came through. Land didn't even try to dodge. He watched as the ball flew over him and exploded in mid air. The sandstorm really did give him the advantage like what Wade had said. He could hide in it, he could use it to damage his enemies, the sandstorm itself, could eve slow ranged moves like shadow balls and sent them flying randomly in any directions.

Even the shadow balls were slowed, Land was still having problems dodging them. He had to keep the sandstorm raging and moving around at the same time. He was tired. The buzzing of his wings to keep the sandstorm going was draining his energy. Still, he had to keep going or else, he'll got shot into the space with a hydro pump.

More shadow balls. More dodgings . More random yellings from someone not so far away. Maybe Roy was complaining about the number of shadow balls that he had wasted.

Time passed. Land wasn't sure about how long had he been up here, keeping the sandstorm going. May be hours. Land really wished that it was hours. If he went down and realized that it had been a few minutes, he would fly up and scream about the unfairness of time in the clouds.

Another shadow ball went over Land's left. He wasn't sure about what he could do now, in his sandstorm. He had to save his energy to keep the sandstorm raging so he had to move around as less as possible. Even he knew that, staying in his sandstorm and doing nothing but wait for attacks to come was utterly boring.

Land stared at his claws as if waiting for something to happen. He could stare at stuffs without blinking for a very long period of time even in his sandstorm. The red cover of his eyes kept his eyes protected from the sandstorm perfectly. He put his hand under his chin. Could his covers prevent water from entering his eyes? He hadn't tried that.

Land was too busy thinking about the usage of his eye covers when another shadow ball went straight at him. He couldn't doge it that close. His claws glowed cerulean and he stabbed the shadow ball. The ball exploded into a shadowy mist. The sudden use of dragon claw drained his energy a lot. He realized that his sandstorm had stopped for a second when stabbed the ball too. He was pretty sure that Roy and Wade could see him from down there. He was very sure that Roy would launch a volley of shadow ball at the spot he was in a few seconds ago. He had to move.

Land flew down a bit lower and do nothing. He had nothing to do anyway. He looked at his wings. The buzzing slowed as well as the sandstorm. If he stared hard enough, he would be able to see Roy charging a lot of shadow balls. Maybe he should fly a bit lower. As he was thinking a big family of shadow balls went straight at him.

Land was surprised, really really surprised. How did Roy know that he would be here? He flared his claws again. He didn't care about the sandstorm anymore. He knew that if he tried to dodge this group hug with shadow balls he had to focus on them not his sandstorm.

He slashed the first and dodge the second. The training lesson from yesterday helped him a lot. He ducked under the third and stabbed the fourth. It exploded like what he expected. He flew high up to avoid the rest. He charged up a dragon breath and fired it at another shadow ball. Fortunately, he didn't miss. He was breathing heavily as his The light of his claws faded. He looked down and saw Wade, still crossing his arms and Roy, who was charging a big shadow ball.

Land watched as Roy shot the shadow ball into the sky, straight for him. The ball seemed to go faster as it travels, which seemed strange.

Without hesitation, Land stopped flapping his wings. He let the gravity carried him towards the earth. He wasn't good at fighting but he wasn't bad at flying. He kept falling towards the earth with an increasing speed. At this point, he started to wonder. 'Is this a good idea after all?' He looked back and saw the shadow ball that flew right above him.

The ball exploded in mid air, filling the sky with black smoke that acted like a very thick cloud. The smoke slowly got bigger until it blocked the sun light almost completely.

* * *

Roy stared at the sky then at Wade then at the sky again. "I didn't expect that." He said.

Wade, as usual, remained silent as he watches Land dive bombing. "I though that shadow balls will fade away slowly if they can't find their target."

"Yup" Roy replied. "But I managed to master the ability to make things explode, including my shadow balls." He glanced at the black clouds. "Still, I didn't expect it to turn into clouds."

"Will it fade away?"

"Sure"

"Then its fine"

* * *

Land just discovered that his covers could act as pilot goggles. They blocked the wind completely while he was falling. He was a few hundred meters above the ground. He should slow down if he didn't want to be flattened to the ground. Seriously, he hated getting flattened.

Land spread his wings wide, but as he did that, pain flared in his side. He remembered the event that had happened last night. The pain from that night slash. He steered him self with difficulty, but he managed to land on the ground with his hind legs, not his face.

Land sat down. He panted slightly and looked at the sky. The black cloud is starting to fade. He was pretty sure that Wade and Roy would come here to find him. He laid n his back. Finally, having a nice little rest. He touched the leaves and vines that cover his wounds. At least it's not hurt when he didn't press it hard. He made a mental note not to spread his wings like that again until the wounds are healed.

A few more minutes passed. The shadows cleared. By judging from the position of the sun, it must be around noon. His belly groaned. Some berries might be nice. He stood up. Roy and Wade hadn't come looking for him yet. He decided that it might be better to walk. His wings earned their rest too.

* * *

Burned berries weren't Land's favorite. Roy heated the berries a bit too much. Instead of making barbecue berries, he made an extra extra extra burned berries. "It was an accident! Really!" Roy said defensively.

"Are you sure?" Land asked. He was holding a seriously burned berry. It was a sphere of blackness. When he pressed his claws on it a little harder, the berry crumbled into dust. "No offense, but were you paying any attention while heating these things?"

"Of course! I was being really seriously focused on what I was doing." Roy replied.

"And what are you exactly doing?"

"Burning them."

"And you said it was an accident."

"It really was an accident!"

"If these crispy,black and burned berries were an accident, what were you planning?"

"Not sure."

"But you're sure that these things were made by an accident."

"Yup."

Land facepalmed himself.

"Ahem." Wade, who was watching the whole time decided to cut in. "I still have a lot more berries, you know..."

* * *

That night.

"Incoming!" Roy, in his normal form yelled as he dodged a hydro pump. "You have to do more than just move, you know!"

"It's not like I don't know that!" Land yelled back. He spread his wings and flew up to avoid hydro pumps. He charged up a dragon breath, his most painful and annoying move to use, due to his poor accuracy. He shot it straight towards Wade, who was standing on the grass below. To his luck, it almost hit Wade. His aiming is starting to get better in the past few hours, which was good.

Wade charged up an ice punch and ran straight towards Roy.

Roy dodged sideways and countered with an electro ball. The ball of lightning shot out from Roy's body and struck at Wade.

Even Wade was weak against electricity, he didn't let it stopped him. He swung his ice punch upwards like and uppercut and sent Roy flying towards the moon. He shot out another hydro pump that sent Roy flying even higher. He looked around and realized that Land had gone missing.

All of sudden. A dragon breath shot out from the woods which struck at Wade. Due to Land's luck, Wade was paralyzed. Land flew out from the woods, his claws shining. A sandstorm seemed to be building as he fly.

When Land was in the range Wade shot a hydro pump which Land easily dodged. He tried to use ice punch but Land went out of reach.

Right after Land dodged Wade's ice punch, He flew straight at Wade again and swung his claws at him. He was sure that Wade couldn't possibly dodge, due to the slowed movement of paralysis and the close range.

But, Wade was ready. He grabbed Land's arm and used circle throw to throw Land over his head. Then he followed with another hydro pump which slammed Land against a tree before he touched the ground.

A few more seconds later. The sand storm rages, blinding Wade and damaging him slowly.

Land, somehow managed to get him self off the tree, charged at Wade again. His dragon claw ready. He swung his claws again. This time he was lucky. He was able to hit Wade once before he got circle thrown into a tree again. "Maybe it would be better if I keep some distance." He muttered.

Right after Land got off the tree for the second time, he shot a dragon breath which missed due to the sandstorm. "And it seems that I'm not good at long range." He muttered. He tried to think of a strategy. The sandstorm was still ragging but won't for long. When there weren't any sands around, it wasn't easy to make a sandstorm and keep it raging around for more than five minutes.

The more Land thought, the more he became tired. So he charged without a plan yet again. His claws glowing bright as ever as if to say 'I'm here! Catch me!'. He slashed Wade's back and dodged an ice punch. He fired another close range dragon breath and got countered with a hydro pump right after he finishes his move.

At that point. The sandstorm stopped. Land knew that he was done for. The sandstorm was the only thing that he can hide in and was the only thing that keep him away from powerful ice punches that might fly into his face. He didn't try to get up. In fact, he lied down on his back and stare at Wade who was recovering from paralysis. "How did you manage to move that fast when paralyzed?"

"I know my weaknesses." Wade replied. "And I also know how to beat my weaknesses too."

"KAMIKAZE!" Roy yelled as he fell from the clear night sky with a big shadow ball following closely behind.

"And that's where he went." Wade muttered. He charged an ice punch and leapt into the sky.

A few seconds later. A loud 'whoosh!' filled the area and everything went black.

* * *

Roy seriously had to stop making big shadow balls. Those things took a very long time to fade away. It took like hours for the latest ones to fade. Roy still wasn't sure if he did this on purpose. "Maybe I want the sky to be pitch black when I made it."

"I thought it was already black." Land asked. He was lying on a carpet made of leaves that Wade had provided him. That poliwrath sure knew how to make things.

"Actually, the night sky is either dark blue or dark purple." Roy said.

"Okay..."

"Maybe a greyish dark bluish purple."

Roy stayed quiet for a while. He seemed to be more serious. His eyes looked at the door and at the windows then at Land."Have you thought about tomorrow yet?"

"Huh?"

"We'll be leaving tomorrow right? Wade said that."

"Yeah.. totally forgot about that."

"So, where will we go?"

Land took out the gem. Even it's light was still dim, it was still beautiful. The pattern on the gem itself looked like flowing water flowing in a circle, reflecting the moon light as it flows. "Maybe we'll keep on going east."

"So we keep on going east until we don't feel like going there anymore?"

"I guess."

"Sounds good."

"Maybe we could-"

"Zzz..."

"And... there goes my talking microwave friend." Land muttered. He looked at the windows. 'I wonder how are my friends doing back home, probably looking for the pearl too.' Then he returned his gaze to the ceiling one last time before he close his eyes and enter the world of dreams.

* * *

They had left Wade's place since dawn so they will have a plenty of time to try going in different directions. A few hours of flying is not much of a problem for Land. The thing that seemed to trouble him more was Roy. Somehow Roy started talking since he was awake and continued to talk until now without stopping.

"So that's the reason why farfetch'd always carry leek stalk with them. Oh! oh! Do you know that every kabuto(s) has red eyes under their shells? and- "

"You know.. if you suggest some exact places that we could go to look for the pearl would be nice" Land interrupted.

"Sure! The exact place that we're going to stop will be... here!" Roy said.

"You didn't even think before you said that, did you?"

"What do you expect? You don't even have a map. So, by going to some random places until you get something useful will help a lot."

"Um... are you using game logics?"

"What?"

Land took a deep breath and sighed. "When you're not sure about what to do in a game, go explore every corners of the world. That's a thing that only works in games."

"Do you know that there are no such things as 'games' in this timeline?"

"So?"

"Stop breaking the fourth wall. Seriously, that's my job."

Land raised an eyebrow. "Okay... so we are going to stop around here for a while, right?"

"Yup."

Land looked down. The only thing he could see was a big forest with a lot of sharp trees. "I really hope that we'll find some thing useful."

"Don't worry, I'm sure that everything is going to be just fine." Roy though for a second. "I guess."

Land searched for a clearing that he could use for landing. He saw some friendly looking pokemons along the way too. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something not so fine is going to happen and Roy's assurance is not helping him.

After a few more minutes of flying. Land found a big clearing in the middle of the trees. He dived down and landed nicely. He checked his surroundings. Trees, rocks and grass were all that he could see. This place might be a good place to lie down and do nothing. A perfect place for a lazy lifestyle.

"So.." Land started. "Where should we start?" He began to walk around.

"I suggest we follow that trail." Roy pointed to the ground. There was a trail of... berries? It seemed like someone was eating berries here not so long ago. "It seems that someone who was eating berries here went that way."

Land looked at the ground and saw the trail Roy was pointing. How did he miss that? "How are we going to find the pearl by following this trail?"

"To find something," Roy began "We must follow something. We will find things that will help we find things that will help we find things that will help we find thungs that will help we find things..."

"Thungs?" Land asked.

"Things" Roy corrected.

"But you just said thungs."

"I didn't. The author typed it wrong."

"Who?"

"The person who writes this story."

"Are you breaking the fourth wall?"

Suddenly a thunderbolt struct down a few centimeters from Roy. Both of them went to inspect it and found out that the lightning left a note on the ground. The note was made of glowing letters in different colors that read "Stop that! That's not cool. Seriously, dude. Fourth wall shouldn't be messed with." Then the note disappeared.

Then another note appeared on the same spot. The text on it read "And pretend that you've never seen any notes will you?"

"Absolutely!" Roy answered as if it was nothing and started to follow the trail of berries.

Land looked around again. "I don't really have any choice." He sighed before following Roy into the woods.


	7. Don't accept tea from strangers

Land knew that he never liked Roy's idea. He was pretty sure that the little guy wasn't thinking before he suggest any ideas too. After a few minutes of following the trail of berries into a cave. They were running for their lives with an army of zubats behind them. A few moments later. Roy baked a pie which attracts combees and bedrills so they had to run for the sake of their pie and their lives also.

In the end. They managed to find a nice spot with no dangerous looking pokemons around and finished their food. Roy tried his best to eat but being a microwave didn't help him much.

They spent the next few hours walking in a straight line. The gem seemed to shined brighter a little. Land's spirit also brightened after he noticed the gem.

"So..." Roy tried to start a conversation. "How do you expect our journey would end?"

Land thought for a second before realizing that he never think about it before. "Well, I don't know. We find the pearl and return it to the forest and live a normal life?" He suggested.

Roy stared at Land. "And how about me?" He asked.

"You could stay at the forest too. We always welcome new members." Land said. He was surprised that Roy looked serious. Somehow he felt a little scared of the little guy. After getting bombarded with shadow balls, he made a mental note to stay on Roy's good side.

"Thanks." Was the only answer from Roy. He wasn't sure why he expected Land to come up with a better idea.

After another while of walking in a straight line something in Roy's mind started to bother him. "Do you think that you can return to your normal life after this ends?"

"Yes." Land simply replied.

"Well, I don't think so." Roy now turned to face Land. His expression was serious even his face looked exactly the same as his usual happy face. "That zoroark. The one that attacked you two days ago."

Land wasn't sure if he should look away or keep staring at the new version of Roy. Now that Roy mentioned the zoroark. Land thought about what happened. He tried to recall the memory as much as possible. He remembered getting attacked so suddenly and got some 'not so nice scars' on his left. "I remember that guy."

"I'm pretty sure that he's after that gem." Roy pointed at the gem in Land's claws. "So I thought about it last night. Maybe that guy either wanted the gem or that guy didn't want you to find the pearl."

"I've never thought of that." Land admitted. "But now that you mentioned it."

"I get the feeling that he doesn't want you to find the pearl." Roy said in a quiet tone, as if he was whispering. "I'm not sure why but I think that something big is going to happen."

"Something big? Like wha-" Land's sentence was cut by a loud explosion. A mushroom shaped smoked can be seen in the sky. "I shouldn't have asked." He really hated it when Roy's guesses was so accurate.

"Let's check it out." Roy said with his usual carefree and happy tone before heading straight towards the big floating smoky mushroom.

Land wasn't really sure if following Roy is a good idea but he didn't have much choice. "At least he's back to normal." He said to himself before following Roy towards the explosion.

* * *

Something didn't seem right.

There was an explosion. It was really really real. But no one panicked. Nobody ran. Not even a single pokemon. In fact, everybody just stood there watching the fire and the smoke as if it was a movie theater.

When Land and Roy arrived, Roy told Land that they should find a hiding spot first, so they could know what's going on without getting spotted. The rotom said that it might be some kind of a festival because everyone just stood there like a bunch of statues.

After a few more minutes Land spotted two figures near the explosion that weren't acting like statues.

Land and Roy moved closer to the two pokemons. Soon Land realized that on of the two was actually the zoroark that he met before. The other one was floating above the ground. It was bigger than the zoroark. It had two arms but no legs, just a wispy tail instead.

Roy assumed Land that the second pokemon was a dusknoir. That didn't made any of them feeling any better.

"Maybe this isn't a festival." Roy said. "But I suggest we waited a while longer."

Land didn't argue. He tried to listen to the other two's conversation. He heard the zoroark said something about 'the next bomb' and 'got the thing.' Then he heard some angry yelling from the dusknoir and the said pokemon vanished behind the flames. "Do you have any idea about what they were talking about?"

"About you maybe?" Roy answered. It didn't make Land feel any better.

A few minutes later.

Land and Roy are still hiding behind a big rock. Roy keep telling to find other hiding spots so he could see things better.

Land was sure that this is not the right time to follow Roy's idea. Before he could tell it to Roy, a group of graveler appeared. All of them looked ready to blow up any moment. "So that's the bomb they were talking about."

"A bunch of gravelers?" Roy said. "I like the voltorb evolutionary line better though."

"Should we do something?" Land tensed up. "I don't think that this is good."

"I'm sure that waiting a few more hours wouldn't be a bad idea, but leaping in the scene and do heroic stuffs is not a bad idea either." Roy suggested.

Before Land said anything he heard a high-pitch cry from the sky which took everyone's attentions. He saw a pokemon flying in the sky. It's blue bird-like body and cloudy wings proved that it was an altaria.

Slowly, the altaria sang a song. It's beautiful voice washed over the area.

"If I were you I would cover my ear as much as possible." Roy told Land. " Or else you're not gonna like what happens next."

He wasn't sure if he should listen to Roy this time. He liked the song. The altaria's voice was the most beautiful sound that he ever heard. He felt like he could stand there all day and watch the altaria sing. Then he saw Roy's serious face again. He gulped and regained his senses then cover his ears with his claws.

After what it seemed like an eternity. Roy nudged Land and pointed at his own ears (or the spot that would be his ears.) and do some random sign languages.

Land then put his claws out then realized that every pokemon else around him fainted, even the statue guys. "Wha...? What just happen?"

"Perish song." Roy shrugged, the way that microwaves shrug, not sure if that's possible. "This trick only works when you're far though. If we were closer we would be just like the others."

Land gazed up. "Does it affect the user?." He asked.

"Won't work if you can't hear, but in normal cases, yes, the user will faint." Roy replied. Then he realized that Land wasn't standing next to him anymore. "Maybe this is what they called 'disappear without a word'."

* * *

Land was flying as fast as he could. He wasn't sure why he came rocketing straight forward like this. The only thing in his mind a few seconds ago was to catch the altaria before she reached the ground. After gaining enough distance, he shot upward heading straight to the falling pokemon. He could felt a trail of sand behind him but he paid it no attention.

Land slowed down and managed to catch the altaria with his two arms. Her weight was surprisingly light compared to her size. He guessed that the cloudy wings wasn't very heavy. Slowly, he came flying down to where Roy has been standing. He felt like he heard the altaria muttered something like "Thank you." But he wasn't sure if it was his imagination.

"I didn't expect you to do that." Roy began after Land managed a soft landing. "But good job anyway."He examined the altaria then fixed his gaze on Land. "You like her?"

Land was surprised, very surprised. It took him a moment to realize what Roy asked him a few seconds ago. "What?!" He blurted out. His cheeks seemed redder.

That made Roy's grin even wider. "Well, I'll have to say that I didn't expect you to react that fast." He edged closer to Land. "It wasn't normal for Land to react fast, you know?"

"Stop that!" Land said defensively. His face was now tomato red. "I couldn't just stand there and watch some pokemon free fall towards the earth when I could help." Somehow he couldn't stop himself from blushing. This is one of the times that he felt like Roy knew him very well, too well. That fact made Land wonder because he only knew Roy for a few days.

The microwave's grin was as wide as his body. Roy was trying his best to hold his laughter but he couldn't do it. Somehow he found this to be pretty amusing. "Fine. I'll stop." He took a deep breath. "Back to the important thing." He shifted his gaze to the now-fainted gravelers. "It seems that the kaboom squad will stay solid as a rock for a while."

"Is that a pun I'm hearing?" Land asked.

Roy ignored Land's comment and looked around. He realized that something was missing. Then he realized another thing, but it was too late.

The zoroark leapt over Roy. He was moving in such speed that almost made him invisible.

Land yelped as he got tackled so hard that made him fall on his back a few feet from where he was standing. He quickly stood back up and saw what he didn't expected. In front of him was not the zoroark but instead, an abomasnow.

The abomasnow's eyes were burning with rage and hatred. "You won't be going anywhere this time." He said. He raised his right arm and the dark green part glowed green.

Land rolled to his side, barely dodge the wood hammer. The impact force was so strong that it made the floor tremble. He shot a dragon breath that hit the abomasnow right between the eyes. Then he quickly backed away as the frost tree pokemon swung his arms wildly while howling in pain.

Roy saw this as an opportunity to make a grand entrance. He levitated towards the abomasnow and heat up his body. A few seconds later he went straight at the bigger pokemon and hug it. That surprised everyone except himself, of course. Then he let a powerful blast of flame emitting form inside his microwave, blowing up everything around him.

The abomasnow who didn't see it coming took a serious damage and let out a painful roar. He staggered backwards and his body started to blur. He seemed to change form back into a zoroark for a second then back into an abomasnow the next second.

Land stared as the zoroark's illusion ability stopped, revealing the burned zoroark. "What was that?"

Roy grinned wider. "I call it _Surprise Overheat_ " He said. He seemed to be proud of himself.

Land turned back to the zoroark. He expected the said pokemon to disappear without a trace but he was still there breathing heavily. Land's claws shined cerulean as he readied himself. He was about to attack when the zoroark let out a laugh.

"Heh. seems like you're going to have a serious trouble." The zoroark said in a low voice and started to back away. "My job here is done anyway." He turned his back against Land. "You should've turn back when you-" In a blink of an eye he disappeared as a shadow ball exploded at the exact spot that he was standing.

Land realized that Roy shot the shadow ball when he saw Roy's pose.

The area started to darken as black smoke emit from the spot that the shadow ball exploded. "Did you really thing that you could take me down that easily? Like what I said earlier. You should turn back when you still can." The smoked started to fill the entire area. The sky darkened. "But it seems that you're not going to do that right? Heh."

Land heard a _poof_ from somewhere in the smoke. He guessed that it was the zoroark getting out of the area. "I'm starting to hate that guy."

"Me too." Roy agreed. "How's your girl?"

"She's NOT my girl." Land shouted.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. She's still unconscious huh?" He edged a little closer to her.

Land stared at the altaria for a second. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. He turned around with his claws ready. Only to find a gengar with a greyish blue scar on the left eye.

The gengar held up a hand. "Greetings." His smile was as wide and strange as Roy's. "My name is Scarlott Spear, Scarl for short." He snapped his fingers and the ghostly smoke that filled the area cleared instantly.

Land wasn't sure what to say. Something didn't feel right about this gengar."Um...can we help you?" He asked.

"Oh! Of course! Thank you for asking." Scarl grinned wider. "Can you tell me about what happened here?"

Land thought for a second. Then he turned to Roy, who was completely still, as if he was a statue. "Well... I guess?"

Scarl knelt down and touched the ground. A black portal appeared under his hand. Then he pulled out a teapot and a cup right from the portal. "You want some tea while telling me the story?"

No one said anything.

"No?" He sighed. "Then I'll have all of this to myself then." He poured the tea into his cup. "Please begin."

* * *

Half an hour later.

"Ah. So that's what happened." Scarl exclaimed. He stood up, flicked his finger and the portal appeared again causing the teapot and the cup to fall into the void. "What are you planning to do next?"

Land looked around once again only to see the same clearing that he have been looking at for half an hour. The gravelers were taken care of by other pokemons while he was telling the story. "I'm not sure."

"If I were you, I wouldn't keep going." He suggested. "There is no point risking your life doing such thing. Let other pokemon take care of this."

Land stayed silent. He wasn't sure how to react. This gengar was right. Risking his life to find a stolen pearl wasn't a very nice idea. But, if he didn't do it will someone else do it? He was sure that the zoroark wasn't a good guy and he might already have the pearl. If someone like that had such power, what will happen to the others?

"You should think about it wisely." Scarl said. "And one more thing. The ghostly smoke that happened earlier." He smiled. "Were caused because of my presence. Do what ever you want with that information." After saying that. His entire body moved downwards through the ground as if it was a quick sand. He showed Land his wide scary grin before his entire body was consumed by the ground, leaving no trail of the gengar.

The place stayed silent for a while. With an unconscious altaria, a rotom which was silent since the past thirty minutes and a speechless flygon. "I get the feeling that he's not on our side." Land finally said. "Roy?"

Surprisingly, Roy the microwave answered. "I agreed." This is the first time he seemed scared. "That guy is definitely not on our side." Roy gazed up to the sky, which is now orange. "We should find a shelter around here. It's getting dark." Then he shifted his gaze to the altaria. "And I think we'll have to take her with us."

* * *

The night sky was beautiful as ever. The crescent moon was shining high in the sky and the stars sparkled in the night. A soft breeze filled the forest blowing the blades if grass as it passes by.

Luckily for Land and Roy, The local pokemons were kind enough to find a cave for them to stay the night. The cave wasn't much like Land's place nor Wade's house. But it's enough for three pokemon.

Roy stared at the crackling fire in the middle of the cave as he waited for the berries in his microwave to be ready.

Land sat at the deepest part of the circle shaped cave. His back against the wall. The altaria was a few feet away from him. She was starting to move once in a while.

"When pokemons faint by the effects of the perish song. Do you know long they'll stay unconscious?" Land started a conversation.

"Usually a few hours." Roy replied. His eyes didn't shift away from the fire. "But if they're very strong, it only takes them a few minutes to recover."

Land stared at the altaria again. "Oh." He said. His tone sounded a bit disappointed. Then the cave was filled with the sound off the crackling fire once again.

"Ugh.." The altaria started to move again.

Roy finally shifted his gaze from the fire. "I think she's awake."

Land stood up. He walked towards the altaria slowly, Roy following behind him. The altaria seemed to be regaining her senses as she blinked slowly and tried to stood up but fell down instantly.

Once she saw Land and Roy, her eyes became wide as she backed away quickly only to realized that there was a wall behind her. "Wh...who are you?!" She asked hastily.

"Don't worry miss." Roy started. "We just saved you from the fall. We won't eat you... yet." He ended his sentence with the usual smile.

"That's not very nice." Land pointed out. "Anyway, I'm Land and this is Roy." He patted the microwave. "And you?"

"..." The altaria did not replied. She only had a blank expression on her face as if she was trying to make sure that she won't be eaten by a strange smiley microwave.

Land scratch the back of his head. "Umm. Don't worry. We won't eat you. My friend can be idiotic at times."

"You take that back!" Roy yelled.

Surprisingly, the next thing that the altaria did was sighing with relief. "What have I gotten myself into?" She muttered to herself before standing up and stretched her cloudy wing. "I guess it's talking time huh? You two go first."


	8. Someone messed up,Seriously

Land and Roy told the altaria about the 'forest bombing' event. Land tried his best to remember the important details and not to add too much spice to the story like Roy. In return, the altaria too, told the dragon and the microwave about herself. Apparently, her name was Sky and her home was blown up by the gravelers. She knew that she couldn't fight all of them so perish song was the best choice she could thought of.

Sky also told them about the possible reasons that made the gravelers blew up the place. "The ruins." she said.

"Ruins?" Land asked.

"Yes." Sky replied. "The ruins of time. Built up long ago to honor the temporal dragon. The ruins are also used as a vault to store all kinds of knowledges."

Land tilted his head out of confusion. "Why would some one want to blow up a place like that?"

"They might not like ancient carvings in stones." Roy suggested. "Or maybe they thought that the ruins were built for blowing up?"

"I think not." Sky said. "I've been watching the ruins these past few days. A lot of pokemon I don't recognize seemed to be looking for something inside. They looked pretty suspicious." She stared out at the entrance of the cave. The light of the morning sun shined in, making things look so lively. "I'm pretty sure that they are related to this."

"Then let's go and check the place!" Roy suggested with enthusiasm. "Assuming that the place haven't been blown up yet."

"That's what I've been fearing." Sky added. She stood up and spread her cloudy wings, preparing to take off. "You two could come too if you want." And with that, she flew off, leaving Land and Roy alone.

"Should we?" Land asked. He already knew the answer but he want to make sure that Roy had something else in his mind.

"Of course!" Roy exclaimed almost instantly. "And you have to carry this microwave there!"

* * *

After a few minutes of flying with the talking microwave between his paws. Land considered dropping Roy to the ground for a few times but quick put those thoughts aside as he knew that he wasn't going to like what happened next.

They met Sky at the entrance of the ruins. Roy had a few seconds to admire the carvings above the entrance and the craftsmanship of whoever that decided to build this place. He stared down the path that lead them in. The ruins entrance was just like a cave, but much more narrow.

Upon seeing a nod from Sky, the three went inside.

The outside was nothing compared to the inside. After many steps of walking down the narrow passage, they've made to a big room. The walls were made of stone and silver shaped like bricks. Most of them were covered with moss but some of them remained glowing as if they were newly polished. Two column of gray pillars stood tall, one on each side of the pathway. Most of them were too, covered with moss. Some of the pillars have vines swirling across them. Cracks appeared on most of the pillars, varies in size. This proved that the place was built very long time ago.

As they walked, Roy looked around. On both sides were a bunch of stuffs which are filled with knowledge. Stone tablets with carvings on them, brick-shaped rocks, also carvings on them lay across the room.

"Like what I've guessed." Sky said out loud. Her expression saddened.

"Like what you have guessed?" Land asked.

"They really were looking for something down here. Something very important." She replied. "Whoever they were."

"If I am going to look for something important down here." Roy spoke up. "I'll start it from there." He gazed straight up towards the end of the hall. The others followed suit. At the end of the room was a door, a door made of iron, stone and silver. In the center of the wall was a single pentagonal-shaped diamond. "That door looks pretty good, so whatever that lies behind that door must be good."

"That doesn't so bad." Land agreed. He turned to Sky who appeared to be deep in thoughts.

After a few seconds of thinking, Sky spoke up. "Then let's check it out."

The trio slowly walked toward the door, looking around for any hint of a trap or a clue. So far, they couldn't find anything dangerous or anything that Roy finds interesting. Once they were right in front of the door, Sky suggested that they should look for any possible hidden doors that they haven't found. Land and Roy nodded and the group split up. Sky went to look at the walls. Roy went for the stone tablets with cravings on them that were laid on the ground. Land, however, stood in front of the door.

Land stared into the diamond in the middle of the door. It seemed to glow in a silver light when he wasn't looking at it directly. All of sudden, he felt the urge to move forward, as if something was calling out for him, something behind the door... So he moved. He reached out his left hand. When one of his claws touched the diamond, he wasn't in the ruins any more.

* * *

Land looked around. He wasn't sure where he was. There were sands in every direction he turned. He assumed that he was in a middle of a sandstorm. He tried to calm the sandstorm down by flapping his wings slowly. The movement of his wings created a soothing sound similar to a pokemon singing which calmed himself down a bit.

After a while, the sandstorm cleared. Land found himself in a desert so big that he couldn't see anything else but sand and the strange glowing blue sky and also a strange silver gear that reminded him of the moon. The gear looked like it was turning very seriously slowly like a slowpoke in clockwise direction. The sky looked like a gigantic flowing river, flowing to the turning gear.

"Where am I?" Land whispered to himself. He looked around for any signs of Roy or Sky but nothing were found, except sand. He was about to fly to the giant silver gear when he heard an ear piercing roar. The roar was so loud that seemed to make the entire entire world tremble.

Land tried to cover his ears as much as possible but the high-pitched sound still found its way in his ears. Somehow, his ears hadn't exploded. After a few seconds that felt like hours. Land opened his eyes when the sound seemed to distant away. He was more than sure that something happened. The sands turned white, the sky turned grey and stopped flowing, even the gigantic gear stopped moving too.

"What just happened?" Land said to no one in particular. Then suddenly, he felt the sensation of being watched. He turned around but saw no one. He tried to look in every direction possible, still nothing. There was literally no one around him but he still couldn't shake the feeling off him.

Despite not knowing where the source came from, he somehow knew that he was being watched by a pair of glowing red eyes. He decided that standing still wasn't a good idea so he took off upwards to the sky above.

No matter how much he tried to forget about the feeling, the pair of red eyes kept on reappearing in his mind, staring at him with... interest? How did Land knew that he didn't know and he didn't really want to know either.

Another high-pitched roar erupted from the direction of the giant gear. Land instantly cover his ears. His wings stopped beating. His eyes shut tight. His body slowly fell back toward the sands down below.

Land wasn't sure what happened. Somehow he couldn't feel anything. His eyes, his ears, his wings. I was like his body suddenly grew numb without a warning. He tried to struggle but nothing happened. His body continued to fall towards the ground. Then, with a thud, his consciousness slipped away.

* * *

Land jerked up and accidentally headbutted Sky hard in the forehead. He clutched his head in pain and was pretty sure that sky was doing the same.

"Well, he's awake now." Roy spoke from a few feet next to Land.

Land also noticed that he was now back in the ruins. He tried to recall what happened earlier. The only thing that came to his mind was the unpleasant stare from a pair of red eyes. He really hated his brain for always bringing up the memories he disliked.

"That hurt." Sky said. rubbing her head with her wing. "You shouldn't jerk up instantly after blacking out. It's not good for your head."

"Sorry." Land apologized. He looked around to make sure that he wasn't dreaming, even the headache proved to be really real. "What happened?."

"Well..." Roy began. "You touched that thingy." He turned towards the door then back at Land. "Then you passed out. We came over then you headbutted her." He tilted his entire body to Sky's direction. "Other than that... I'm not sure what else happened but..." He trailed off. His eyes focused back on the door. Everyone followed.

"It seemed different." Sky added.

Land remained silent. He was also sure that something about the door had changed. He stood up and walk toward the door once again. He felt he knew what to do. If something went wrong he would just black out again, at least that's what he had hoped.

"If I were you, I wouldn't do.." Roy was about to finish his sentence when Land held up his hand and placed it on top of the diamond.

Orange light filled the room. The diamond's glow remind Roy of the evening sun, calm and beautiful. The stone tablets that were laid across the floor and the ancient markings that was carved on the walls seemed to glow in harmony. The pillars themselves looked renewed.

The door trembled. Then, with a soft push from Land's hand, the door opened. The glowing lights faded. Behind the door was a small room. In the center of the room stood a pedestal which was only around three feet tall with the most noticeable thing in the room floating above it. The thing was a stone with a glowing orange marking on it.

Land walked in the room without hesitation. To his luck, the door didn't close behind him. The others followed him in.

"That's.." Sky stared at the rune in awe. Land guessed that she must have known something about the rune. He continued on towards the pedestal. After taking a closer look,he reached out his hand, ready to grab it when the room suddenly felt colder. He took a deep breath and decided to keep going on.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A familiar voice spoke up from right behind Land.

Land froze in his tracks. He slowly withdrew his hand from the floating rune and turned around. The familiar face of Scarl the gengar. He looked past the gengar and found his friends fastened by black ghostly streamers from Scarl's back. The streamers seemed to look like tentacles somehow.

"What are those..." Land suddenly lost his ability to speak.

"Don't worry." Scarl spoke up. "My wings are not my best secret. You'd be surprise once you realize what I'm capable of." Right after finishing his sentence, one of his wings slammed into Land's side, sending him flying towards the wall. The force was enough to make the wall crack and to knock the wind out of Land."

"Mmmph!" Sky tried to scream but Scarl's wings covered up her beak, preventing her from speaking. At the corner of her eye. She saw Roy who was in the same state as her. She wasn't sure if Roy could speak with his mouth covered or not. She thought she remembered Roy doing it a few hours earlier. Maybe Roy realized that speaking wasn't the best thing to do in the situation.

Scarl turned back to sky with a wider grin than before. "Screaming is against the rules." He commanded his wings to bind Sky harder forcing the wind out of her lungs.

Roy stared in horror as the gengar tortured Sky. He didn't dare to make a sound or move. Something about this pokemon terrified him, something he had already knew...

After the next few minutes Sky stopped struggling. Roy's eyes widened. He looked over to where Land was and saw him trying to stand up.

Unfortunately, Scarl saw that too. He threw Sky from his wing straight at Land who now had already stood up. The collision knocked the wind out of Land once again and slammed him into the exact spot that he had been slammed into earlier. The upper part of the weakened wall crumbled, burying the two dragon-type underneath.

"Heh." Scarl now had his attention focused on Roy. "Feeling left out aren't you?" He then slammed Roy down to the floor, leaving a crack in the floor in the process. "You can try whatever you want, Rotom. Nothing will change. Soon, you'll regret running away in the first place."

Roy did not respond.

"Heh." Scarl slowly walk towards the pedestal as if he had all the time in the world. "Ah, The rune of time." He exclaimed, his hands spread wide. "With all of these items that I've acquired, I can finally start my plan." One of his wings moved towards the rune. His eyes turned to the pile of rocks and bricks on the side of the room. "All of this won't happen if you didn't open that cursed door." His wing snatched the rune on the pedestal. With on last look on the pile of rock, Scarl sunk in through the ground and silence filled the room.

* * *

A long while later...

The pile of broken walls that buried the two dragons started to move. After a few rubble fell down from the pile, the moving stopped. Within the next second, white light emitted from the inside followed by a blast that blew up the entire pile. Dust from the explosion filled the room.

"cough.. you okay?" Land asked as he tried to stand up.

"Nothing broken." Sky replied. She was lying on the ground with a wing over her head. After seeing Land stand, she decided to stand up too but a sudden jolt of pain flared at her right talon causing her to fall to the ground headfirst. "At least I hope that nothing's broken."

Land knelt down beside her. "You don't look okay." He tried to examine Sky's talon but she moved away.

"I'm okay." Sky insisted. "You should worry about your friend first."

Land's eyes widened as he realized that Roy wasn't with them when the pile of old wall bricks fell on him. He quickly stood up and scan his surroundings for any sign of his microwave friend. Surely, he couldn't gone anywhere far from here assuming that Scarl hadn't killed him.

He leapt up and flapped his wings, hoping that by looking from above could help his search for his friend easier. Sadly, Sky wasn't the only who got buried under the pile of bricks earlier. After the second wingbeat he lost his balance and slammed into the wall before falling down to the ground right in front of Sky.

"You don't look okay." Sky commented.

"I don't think I am." Land agreed. "I though that you were on top of me when that wall broke."

"That's what you think." Sky countered without looking at the flygon. Instead, her eyes were scanning the visible cracks and holes in the room. "Is that..?"

She motioned her head towards a hole on the other side of the room. "I think I found your friend."

Land followed Sky's gaze until he saw where Roy was buried. "Roy!" He quickly stood up and ran toward his friend. Upon getting a closer look, he realized that Roy had a crack at the right side of his head. "Roy!"

"Nggghhh..." Was the only respond Land got from the rotom.

Land wasn't sure what to do. He knew that Roy was badly injured but he didn't know how to help. He started to feel that by living in seafield forest, he had lost all his surviving skills. "Hang in there buddy.. I'll...I'll just..." He looked around for anything that might be able to help but all he could see were rocks and dust. He stared to panic.

"Calm down." Sky said from behind Land. "If you panic it will only get worse."

Land took a deep breath. He felt his body tremble with fear. "Wha..what if.. he d..di..dies?" He stammered.

Somehow Sky managed to move to where Land was standing. "You have to believe that he won't." She edged closer to Roy. "I've never seen a pokemon like this before but I think he looks pretty bad."

"What do we do!?"

"You pull him out from that hole."

"What!?"

"Just do it."

Land gulped. He moved his claws slowly to Roy's sides. "I hope that this won't hurt." With a deep breath, Land pulled Roy out of the hole. Then he place the unconscious microwave on the ground softly.

"The crack on his head looks pretty serious. Other than that, he seemed fine to me." Sky said.

"Can we help him?" Land started to feel calmer.

"I suggest healing berries." Sky turned to Land. "If it works on him."

"It have to."

"Nah... I'm... fine..." Roy said weakly. With a flash, he exited from the microwave. He was able to hover above the ground for a few second before falling into Sky's wings. "Just need a little rest..."

Neither did Land or Sky said a thing.

Land shifted his position impatiently. "What now?"

Sky looked at Roy. Her face seemed to be filled with pity. "I think... maybe we should stay here for a while. There might be a chance that the gengar's still out there."

Land did not disagree. "Well... I don't know what to do next anyway.." Land sat down next to Sky, right beside the sleeping rotom. "I hope that he'll be okay."

"I've been sticking with you guys for only a day, you know?" Sky spoke up so suddenly that she surprised Land. "But somehow, I felt like you guys are the nicest buddy that I've ever met.

"Well, I've been sticking with this guy for like.. four days? and he saved my life more than once." Land somehow found himself smiling. "I guess I'm growing attached to this annoying guy."

"I guess that he make your life interesting huh?" Sky asked with a slight grin on her face.

"Heh. Maybe you could say that." His gaze returned to door in front of them. The door that they used to get in here. Land felt that he had a lot more to do than just searching the pearl. That desert with a giant gear... Somehow he felt like everything was connected in a way but not sure how. He shook his thought aside. His eyes rested back on the sleeping rotom. Now, the only thing that he have to worry about is his friend.

"Fluffy..." Roy murmured in his sleep.

Sky giggled.

Yup. Land thought. He definitely have to worry about his friend's being more than anything else at this moment. Besides, since he met the little guy, a moment of peace is not easily found.


End file.
